The Athletic writer and author Liam Tharme joins the show to unpack the biggest shift in modern distance running: the rise of “super shoes.”

Tharme’s new book, Super Shoes: How Advanced Technology Revolutionized Running, traces how Nike’s Vaporfly (and the carbon-plated, high-stack foam revolution that followed) helped trigger an avalanche of fast times and world records across the roads and track.

In this conversation, Liam shares how his own running background fueled his curiosity, what he learned reporting the inside story of Breaking2, and why the technology boom has sparked debates around fairness, access, and sporting integrity.

We dig into the science behind the gains, the key researchers who helped validate them, the brand arms race between Nike, Adidas, Puma, ASICS, Hoka, New Balance and On, and the tricky new reality super shoes introduce: when performance leaps can be explained by tech, it can get harder to interpret everything else we see on race day.

In this episode, we cover:

- How the Vaporfly changed running in 2016 and why the record books haven’t looked the same since

- The origins of carbon plates + advanced foams, and what the research actually says

- Breaking2’s behind-the-scenes decisions and the people who made it possible

- The “shoe doping” debate, fairness, and how accessibility has evolved

- The current footwear landscape and who’s winning the innovation race now

- The next frontier: personalization, super-responders, and what “the perfect shoe” could mean

Super Shoes is available now here.

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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez

Guest: Liam Tharme | @liamtharme

Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr

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